The dispute over the fate of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall continued yesterday as the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs announced that it had begun a review of the memorial's historical and cultural significance.
The Cabinet announced on Friday that the hall would be renamed "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" and the white-washed walls surrounding the memorial would be demolished. But the department said yesterday that residents and historians had filed applications with the department asking for the hall's significance to be reviewed. As such, the department said it was obligated by the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (文化資產保存法) to investigate.
"The city government takes no sides in matter. Whether or not the walls should be preserved or demolished will be decided after the committee has completed its review. The city government will respect the committee's final decision," Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
Department Commissioner Lee Yong-ping (
The department will invite committee members to examine the hall on March 26 and hold public hearings before making a decision, Lee said.
The law states that anyone damaging a monument is liable to a punishment of seven years in jail and a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000.
Pan-green Taipei city councilors accused Hau, son of former premier and Chiang loyalist Hau Pei-tsun (
"As the hall is less than 30 years old, it cannot be recognized as a historical monument," said Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (
Councilor Lee Ching-feng (
Lee Yong-ping acknowledged that the hall, which was opened in 1980, was the newest building to be evaluated for its cultural and historical significance.
But he said that age was not the only determining factor. He added that the hall had been made a "temporary monument" to protect it during the evaluation period.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said it supported the city government's decision.
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-an (
The DPP caucus, however, said the measure was inappropriate and urged the city government not to stifle public debate.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the memorial's outer walls must be torn down because they symbolized the gap between the dictator and the public.
"The land belongs to the people so we want to make it a public park. That is why we want to tear down the walls," Su said in response to a question from KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
"I really do not understand why the Taipei City Government would try to stop us by making the memorial hall a monument," Su said.
Vice President Annette Lu (
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Ko Shu-ling
also see story:
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS